Sunday, June 10, 2012

It's Time To Crown A Champion

                                                  

You have to give credit where credit is due.  The Miami Heat and most importantly LeBron James stepped up in big moments to capture the Eastern Conference Championship.  He was amazing in Game 6 with his virtuoso performance of 45/15/5, matched only in the playoffs by Wilt the Stilt, and great in Game 7 with a little help from his friends.


 LeBron has his eye on the prize.

The media has been asking for this from LeBron his whole career.  I have written before the regular season means nothing and what you do in the post season is what leaves the lasting memory.  He now is back in the NBA Finals and will be taking on a monumental task of beating the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The networks airing the NBA Finals are as happy as pigs in slop that they have superstars galore in this series.  The headliners being the three time scoring champion Kevin Durant and three time MVP LeBron James.  You also have OKC's Russell Westbrook and Miami's D'Wayne Wade.  Not to mention the emergence of the Thunder's sixth man-of-the-year James Hardin as a big time clutch performer and the return of Chris Bosh who was instrumental in shouldering some of the load for the Heat to end the Celtics run.


Thunder's "Young Guns" Harden/Durant/Westbrook

The match-ups are significant as the youth and speed of the Thunder will be tested by the speed and experience of the Heat.  The up tempo style of play should make for some really high scoring contests.  It might look like the NBA of old with both teams likely to push the 100 point mark.  I think this bodes well for the Thunder as they have the better overall team scoring threats than the Heat on a consistent basis.

They both attack the basket like a dog after a bone and should probably set records for the amount of free throws attempted in this series.  The advantage in this regard goes to the Thunder as Miami has shown throughout the playoffs this is not a strong skill of theirs.  Missed free throws in a tight game mean everything.  I never understood how a player can fade away with a man and hand in his face and drain a jumper but can stand still with nothing but air in his face and brick a free throw!

The Thunder's other starters are stacked in the paint with low post defense as Kendrick Perkins and Serge , "I should change my name to Iblocka", Ibaka will get after it with fervor.  Perkins has past history of success against the Heat when  he was with the Celtics and they took out LeBron and his Cavs.  They also have a good defender on the wing in Sefolosha who could give some problems to either Wade and James but lets face it they will ALWAYS get their points.


Wade posterizing opponents will continue. 

The Heat's starting point guard, Mario Chalmers, is solid and has experience on the big stage.  He has made some big shots his his college career and NBA career and should use that to his advantage.  He was here last year so that shouldn't be a deterrent to his chance of success.  He will need to be good with the ball and not make turnovers and be careless.  He has a tendency to make bad passes and this will turn into quick transition points for the Thunder. 

The role players for each team will be a huge factor as it has become well known the Heat have players that sometimes show up and other times sit back and watch like fans while James/Wade/Bosh play.

The Thunder's biggest asset and key role player is Derek Fisher.  He has been in the league a while now and has a fist full of championship rings to show for it.  He is a calming influence on the young Thunder players and is a wealth of knowledge in general.  He keeps them focused in huddles and is a sort of "coach" on the court.  The Miami Heat can't match that level of championship experience on the bench and court.  (Don't count Pat Riley as he sits in the stands.)


Derek Fisher has 5 rings and plenty of experience.

The Heat have good role players who are in the latter stages of their careers like Mike Miller and Shane Battier, but are wildly inconsistent.  They have nights when they both could hit 3 to 4 threes or both go ice cold and not make a shot.  This inconsistency is what made the last two series for the Heat so difficult.  I know Bosh was out but they still have two of the best players on the planet and should have been able to dispose of the Pacers much earlier and easier.  They were outplayed actually from games 2-5 against the C's but were lucky they won game 2 or we would be talking about a Celtics/Thunder series.


Miami hopes for no poses like this from Mike Miller.

The emotion and energy Miami has expended this past series should make Game 1 of this series a virtual blowout.  The Thunder have been resting for days and will be eager to explode upon the Heat.  This has happened before in the playoffs when OKC dismantled the Lakers in Game 1.

The transition from home to away is different now in the Finals when Games 3-5 are all played in Miami so winning the first two games at home for the Thunder will be imperative.  If Durant and company can steal a game in Miami then they can come back home to Oklahoma City and close them out in Game 6.  As exciting as Game 7's are you never want to let it get that far as anything can happen in a Game 7.

We have seen LeBron come up big this post season but his past history shows he will not finish the job.  As the old saying goes those how "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it."  I see them playing well in the series but when it comes to winning time I like Durant's killer instinct.  He has been extremely effective in those situations and WANTS the ball at the end of games.   

So that is how I see this series going with Oklahoma City capturing the NBA Championship, Kevin Durant being Finals MVP, and leaving LeBron once again with his off season thoughts to wonder why he hasn't won a title.


K. D. for Finals MVP???

With the current age of Durant/Westbrook/Harden being a collective 23 years old this may only be the beginning of what could be a decade of dominance from this "Big Three".  It seems scary that players so young could be on the verge of the ultimate prize.  The league is different than it ever has been and youth is being served earlier and earlier. 

 To quote a singing Jalen Rose, "They may be young but their ready!" 







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